76 entries from October 2013

October 31, 2013

In the cartoon, an NSA spy wearing a stereotypical spy outfit (raincoat and headphones) has just been turned away from a house marked 'Allies' (a reference the the USA's 'friends' in Europe). The woman is Angela Merkel (whose mobile phone was tapped by the NSA). The man, who is holding out of bowl of candy, tells the spy, "Worst Halloween costume ever", to which the latter replies, "I can still hear you!" Note the Jack o' Lantern (carved pumpkin) on the steps.

COMMENTIt's not clear (to me anyway) whether the spy says "I can still hear you" because the couple might think he can't hear because he's wearing headphones, or whether it's because he is bugging their house. The fact that the headphones don't appear to be plugged in to anything makes me think the former. But I may be wrong.

GRAMMAR'Worst' is the irregular superlative form of 'bad'. Not to be confused with 'worse', which is the comparative form. • This is the worst movie I've ever seen. It's even worse than Scary Movie 5.

Four French hostages kidnapped in Niger by al Qaeda's north African wing have been released following secret talks with officials from the West African country, ending three years in captivity. Sarah Toms reports.

TRANSCRIPTREPORTER: After secret talks, four French hostages, kidnapped three years ago by al Qaeda's north African wing in Niger, have finally been released. The freed hostages were flown into Niger's capital where they were greeted by the French foreign and defence ministers and the Niger President. PRESIDENT OF NIGER MAHAMADOU ISSOUFOU: "Niger is pleased about the liberation of the hostages. The liberation of the hostages took place in close collaboration with President Hollande. As you know it is more than 3 years since the hostages were kidnapped and Niger took measures to ensure their freedom which happened today."REPORTER: Pierre Legrand, Daniel Larribe, Thierry Dol and Marc Feret were kidnapped by the Islamic Maghreb organisation in September 2010. Visibly tired, dressed in traditional robes with long beards, they still managed a smile. Dol said the years in captivity had been extremely difficult, the ordeal of a life-time. They were seized in raids targeting two French firms operating a uranium mine near Arlit. The men were all employees at the mine of the French nuclear company Areva. The conditions of the release were not clear but the French government has denied it paid a ransom. There were sporadic signs the men were still alive, such as this video filmed around two years after they were first kidnapped... But many were concerned for their lives after France's military campaign in neighbouring Mali earlier this year.

COMMENTThe big question is how much ransom money did the French government pay?

October 30, 2013

If you've been finding the recent crosswords a bit difficult, here's an easier one using basic English vocabulary. Click here to download a PDF version with solution, and here for an interactive web version which should work on mobile devices.

TRANSCRIPTREPORTER: This couple are head over heels in love. The world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, has finally found his match. The 8 foot 3 groom stood next to his bride who is just 5 foot 8 and barely reaches reaches his waist. SULTAN KOSEN: "I have found the woman of my life after a long search. I am truly happy for that." REPORTER: The Turkish farmer also holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest hands and feet.

IDIOMS1. If you get hitched or tie the knot, you get married (see here and here for the origin of these expressions).2. To be head over heels in love means to be deeply in love (see here for the origin of this expression).

GRAMMARYou may be wondering why the reporter says 'eight foot three' and not 'eight feet three' (which is also correct). See here for an explanation.

October 29, 2013

BACKGROUNDThe US government may have been monitoring German chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone for more than 10 years, according to a report by Der Spiegel based on internal documents from the National Security Agency (NSA). President Barack Obama told Merkel that he was not aware her phone was being bugged, or he would have stopped it. However, he declined to say whether her phone had been monitored in the past. Full story >>

THE CARTOONThis cartoon by Dave Granlund shows the famous moment in 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell made the first ever phone call in his Boston laboratory, summoning his assistant Watson from the next room. Bell's actual words were, "Mr. Watson—Come here—I want to see you." In this version he adds, " I think NSA has hacked into my phone!"

VOCABULARYIf you hack into someone's mobile phone, you intercept their calls or access their voicemail so that you can listen to them without their knowledge. • Rebecca Brookes is in court facing five charges including conspiring to illegally access voicemails. She was editor of the News of the World when it allegedly hacked into Milly Dowler's phone.

Britain was battered by its strongest storm in a decade which killed several people and cut power to hundreds of thousands as it moved across Europe. Mana Rabiee reports.

TRANSCRIPTREPORTER: Britain was battered by its strongest storm in a decade Sunday ... and this is what much of it looked like. Hurricane-force winds lashed at southern England and Wales, killing several people. The storm cut power to nearly two-hundred thousand and disrupted travel plans for millions of commuters. Trading volume in London's financial markets on Monday was down, suggesting traders, like so many others, were stuck at home. But these campers in Cornwall decided to brave the winds. CAMPER, KATIE BALDWIN: "The wind seems to come in two sets. The first set hit the tent an angle which seemed manageable and then it was quiet for a while and then the direction changed. And yes, I was absolutely petrified. I'm not scared of the elements, but that did really get me going. " REPORTER: The storm moved across Europe on Monday, hitting the low-lying Netherlands and shutting down all traffic into Amsterdam. But strong winds also affected parts of northern France, where an orange weather alert - the second highest - went into effect. By late Monday morning, the worst of the storm had passed Britain and cities were in clean-up mode. Britain's meteorological office said most storms over the UK develop out over the Atlantic. This one, it said, developed as it crossed over the UK, setting the stage for weather disruptions that just don't happen here very often.

October 28, 2013

The BBC has been teaching English for 70 years, and to celebrate they have published a number of special programmes. You can find them all here.

COMMENTEnglish teaching/learning websites come and go, but in my opinion BBC Learning English remains the best all round internet resource for learners of English. There's an incredible wealth of material at all levels, and some of the archives go back to 1999! So Happy Birthday to @bbcle and good luck for the next 70 years!

BACKGROUNDBritain's strongest storm in a decade battered southern regions on Monday, forcing hundreds of flight cancellations, cutting power lines and disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters. Winds of up to 99 miles per hour (160 km per hour) lashed southern England and Wales in the early hours of Monday, shutting down rail services in some areas during rush hour. Full story >>

THE CARTOONThe cartoon by Paul Thomas from the Daily Express shows a man and a woman standing in a field near a wind farm. The wind turbines have been snapped off and blown away by the force of the storm. The man comments, 'Every cloud ...'.

EXPLANATIONTo understand this cartoon you first have to know the saying that the man is thinking of: 'Every cloud has a silver lining.' This means that every bad situation has some good aspect to it (see here for the origin). It is sometimes just reduced to 'Every cloud ...', since the speaker will assume that his interlocutor is familiar with the expression. You also have to know that many people in Britain are opposed to wind turbines for a variety of reasons including cost, environmental impact, etc. So the bad situation is the storm (represented by actual clouds), and the good aspect is the destruction of the wind turbines (we have to assume that the man is in the anti-wind farm camp).

TRANSCRIPTPumpkins are big in the U.S. in October. They represent the autumn harvest and, of course, Halloween, the season of pumpkin carving. These Florida scuba divers' recipe for an easy cut is: soak pumpkin in salt water before carving. And if your squashes are too big even to carve, then why not use them as racing vessels? But it seems cutting isn't forceful enough for these Colorado folks, who decided to fling their pumpkins into submission. Happy Halloween!

TRIVIA NOTEScuba is an acronym for 'self-contained underwater breathing apparatus'.

Millions of commuters faced chaos on Monday morning as rail services across large parts of the country were cancelled after warnings that Britain will be battered by the most severe storm in a decade. Full story >>

VOCABULARYChaos (= kay-oss) is a state of complete confusion and lack of order. • Heavy snow has caused total chaos on the roads.

The cartoon is based on the traditional children's fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood about a young girl who visits her grandmother, only to find she has been eaten by a Big Bad Wolf. In Schrank's version, the role of Little Red Riding Hood is played by Angela Merkel (note the mobile phone in her basket). The wolf is U.S. President Obama (note the listening equipment on his bedside table and the stars and stripes bedclothes). Merkel tells Obama (in a strong German accent), "Mr Präsident ... vat big ears you hef!" (Mr President ... what big ears you have).

COMMENTARYIn the original fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood notices that her grandmother looks very strange (the wolf has disguised himself as the grandmother after eating her). She then says, "What a deep voice you have" ("The better to greet you with"), "Goodness, what big eyes you have" ("The better to see you with"), "And what big hands you have!" ("The better to hug/grab you with"), and lastly, "What a big mouth you have" ("The better to eat you with!"), at which point the wolf jumps out of bed, and swallows her up. The cartoonist adds the line about big ears because Obama is known for having big ears, and because his big ears are a metaphor for the NSA's listening activities ("The better to hear you with!").

NOTEBob Englehart used a similar idea in a cartoon published back in June, when the spying scandal had just broken.

October 26, 2013

To celebrate the British love of a proper brew (= cup of tea), Yorkshire Tea has just released this fun song full of facts about how tea can benefit you in your everyday life. Watch the behind the scenes here.

LYRICSSarah : I’m really sorry – this just isn’t working any more.
Boyfriend: Really?
Sarah: Yeah, you’ll thank me eventually. You’ll be fine. You just need a cup of tea.
Boyfriend: What?
Sarah: Shhhh. A graze or minor injury, there’s tea, there’s tea. You took an arrow to the knee, have tea, oh tea. Even winners of the Monaco Grand Prix drink tea, and it’s drunk by the bourgeoisie – probably. Likely change the course of history, lovely cup of tea. When Monday leaves you feeling blue, when your boss has a rage that you can’t subdue, you’ll likely see his point of view if you just sit down and have a brew. If zombies come back from the dead, and you’re all tucked up inside your bed, put down your guns - use tea instead, then use the cup to smash their heads.
Boyfriend: Sarah, can we just talk? Sarah …
Sarah: Your leg’s trapped underneath debris, there’s tea, there’s tea. You feel a burning when you wee, have tea, oh tea. Been sectioned for insanity, more British than the Jubilee, I even heard it made a blind man see, lovely cup of tea. It makes you sexy, ripped and brave, brings childhood pets back from the grave, puts curly hair upon your chest, acts just like a bulletproof vest, cleans pollution, grime and smog, gives a glossy coat to your dog, could reduce the deficit of Greece, unite and soothe a breach of peace, use it to clean off your make-up, or feel better for a messy break-up.

VOCABULARYA brew is an informal word for a cup of tea, aka a cuppa. • Fancy a brew?

COMMENTSNot quite in the same league as those wonderful Yeo Valley ads, but still pretty good. Apparently, the video was filmed in just one take. Impressive!

BACKGROUNDGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel called US President Barack Obama on Wednesday after receiving information that the US may have spied on her mobile phone. A spokesman for Mrs Merkel said the German leader "views such practices... as completely unacceptable". Mrs Merkel called on US officials to clarify the extent of their surveillance in Germany. The White House said President Obama had told Chancellor Merkel the US was not snooping on her communications. Full story >>

THE CARTOONThe cartoon by Chappatte from the International Herald Tribune shows the moment when Obama receives Merkel's call in the Oval Office. An aide and an NSA operative (who is tapping the German Chancellor's phone) simultaneously tell him, "Merkel on the phone. She's very angry."

EXPLANATIONThe joke is that Merkel phones to complain about her phone being tapped while it is actually being tapped.

The UK economy accelerated to 0.8 percent growth in the third quarter of this year, as the country's central bank chief said he'd make it easier for financial institutions to access its funds. Andrew Potter reports.

TRANSCRIPTREPORTER: The British economy is picking up speed, with the stats to prove it. JOE GRICE, UK OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS: "GDP in the third quarter grew by 0.8 percent."REPORTER: Britain's Office of National Statistics showed the economy grew at its fastest pace in three years in the third quarter. Its chief Joe Grice explained where that growth was coming from.JOE GRICE, UK OFFICE OF NATIONAL STATISTICS: "Services, that's about three quarters of the economy, grew by 0.7 percent. Construction grew by 2.5 percent. The production sector grew by 0.5 percent. REPORTER: It's good news, but the UK economy is still two and half percent below its peak before the recession. British finance minister George Osborne. GEORGE OSBORNE, BRITISH FINANCE MINISTER: "Britain is poorer because of the crash that happened five years ago. This government is turning that around and thanks to the hard work of the British people there is now and economic recovery. People are feeling it as they get jobs and those jobs get better for people." REPORTER: Despite its struggles during the crisis, London's financial centre remains one of the key drivers for the British economy. Osborne appointed Mark Carney as Bank of England governor in July. And in his first major speech on financial regulation, Carney said he'd make it easier and cheaper for lenders to access the central bank's funds. BANK OF ENGLAND GOVERNOR MARK CARNEY GIVING SPEECH: "We are open for business. The new Bank of England facilities are not ornamental, they are there to be used. They are there to be used by banks to access money and high quality collateral." REPORTER: Encouraging signs, while the UK's steady growth has all but put to bed fears of a triple dip recession for the UK.

IDIOMIf you put something to bed, you put it out of your mind. • County go into the game in good form, a recent defeat at Rochdale firmly put to bed with a handsome 3-0 win at home to York.